Skydance has named leaders for key functions in its combined advertising business following the completion this month of its $110 billion merger involving Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. The group plans to bring together advertising operations across its television, film and streaming brands.
The new structure covers U.S. sales, ad partnerships, revenue operations, marketing, and product strategy and measurement. The team will coordinate ad sales and resources across the group’s brands. The structure for international operations is still being assessed.
Six executives take on key advertising roles
Chief Advertising Revenue Officer Jay Askinasi outlined the appointments in an internal memo to staff. Danielle Carney will lead U.S. sales; Jill Steinhauser, ad partnerships; Christine Hong, revenue operations; Chris Brady, Skydance Media Labs; Ed Romaine, ad marketing; and Evan Giamanco, product strategy and measurement.
Askinasi said the company aims to give executives clear responsibilities, reduce management layers and keep leaders closer to the businesses they oversee. He said the team would be organized around how clients plan and buy advertising, while combining the group’s intellectual property and creative resources and using shared data and analytics to speed up decisions.
Steve Ellis to oversee operations and integration
Steve Ellis will remain chief operating officer of the advertising business and take on the additional role of integration lead. He has held the operations position at Paramount since 2022. As the group brings together advertising teams from the companies, Ellis will continue to coordinate operational links and integration.
Internationally, Lee Sears will continue to lead Paramount’s international advertising business and join the new leadership team. Askinasi said management is also evaluating Warner Bros. Discovery’s international operations before deciding on the appropriate structure for the Skydance group. The memo did not provide a timetable for completing the review or announcing a final arrangement.
Warner Bros. Discovery executives to work with Askinasi in Q4
Askinasi thanked Ryan Gould, president of advertising sales and marketing at Warner Bros. Discovery, and Bobby Voltaggio, president of advertising sales and platform monetization. He said both would continue working with him through the fourth quarter. The memo did not say whether either executive would hold a permanent role in the combined organization after that period.
The merged group’s assets include Paramount and Paramount+, Warner Bros., HBO and HBO Max, CBS, and CNN. How the advertising organization is structured will shape how the group coordinates sales to clients across these content and distribution platforms. The appointments establish leaders for the main functions, while the international structure remains undecided.